


Black and White

by Martienne



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-03-23 12:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3767428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Martienne/pseuds/Martienne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even the humblest leader has wisdom to share.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black and White

Rain dripped from the leaves on the trees, the sky darkened by the clouds that had gathered overhead. Water was pooled into expansive puddles all around the rebel camp ground. A pair of armored feet splashed through them, on their way here or there. The rain didn’t bother him. It was actually a nice change, being here on Chorus. In the canyon it had never rained.

Finally he seemed to settle on a destination and went into a little Quonset hut, a space that was often used for recreation by the New Republic’s soldiers. They didn’t get much recreational time, so when they had it they did their best to use it. There was a group of soldiers inside, playing cards, but the one who had entered simply walked by them.

He was here on a mission.

He spotted it, just where he’d left it, a nondescript box that was printed with alternating squares of light and dark. He smiled when he saw it, lifting it off of its shelf. Until now he had kept the discovery of this set a secret, but today he took the treasured box to the pre-appointed place and began to set up.

A tall man entered the empty crew quarters. “Captain, sir?” he said. “I’m here.”

“Hello,” Caboose replied. He was setting the pieces out on his side of the board, one at a time, looking at each with an affectionate expression before setting it on its square.

Smith looked at the board and back to his captain. “Do you want to help me set up?” he asked.

“Oh, yes, Smythe, it is very simple.” He took the white pieces out of the box by handfuls and handed them to the lieutenant, who scrambled to hold them against his chest in an attempt to avoid dropping them. “You start with the palms.” He held one of the pieces in question out in front of Smith before setting it on the board. “They are called that because they have coconuts on their heads. But don’t say anything about it,” he added in a whisper. “They hate that.”

“No, I won’t,” Smith said solemnly. He didn’t want to offend, of course.

“They stand in the front row,” Caboose said, “because they are shorter than everyone else.”

Smith nodded and started setting up his pawns. “It’s important for everyone to be able to see what’s going on.”

“Yes.” Caboose set up his back row while Smith busied himself with that. “Every one of these guys thinks they’re the most important,” Caboose said. “But they can only move in one direction. All except the empress. She’s the actual most important. She can go anywhere she wants.”

“Of course, everyone would make room for an empress.” Smith went on to set up his back row, mirroring Caboose’s setup. “I did learn this game when I was a kid. I think I remember how to play.”

Caboose smiled, and moved one of his pawns. “My sister showed me how.”

“Your sister?” Smith moved the pawn opposite Caboose’s and looked at his captain. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“I had seventeen sisters,” Caboose said. “She was the oldest. She treated me like a brother.”

“That was good of her. How awful would it be to have a sister who wouldn’t treat you like a brother?”

“I could tell you,” Caboose said. “I had some. But, yeah. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh,” Smith said, abashed. “Right. It’s no good to talk about things that aren’t nice to think about.”

“But this game is nice to think about!” Caboose moved one of his knights and smiled. “I’m going to get your castle guy next.”

Smith frowned. “But he’s not in the right place for you to get him.”

“Watch,” Caboose said.

“I will,” Smith said, confused, and moved one of his pawns.

Most people would have lapsed into small talk then, talked about what was going on with training or with projected missions, but Caboose was single-minded on concentrating on the game. Smith found himself falling into silence, watching his commander’s face. It was lit up in a way that Smith had rarely seen, as cheerful as Caboose could be even on a normal basis.

“There,” Caboose said. He traded one of Smith’s pieces for his own. “I got your castle guy.”

“Yes,” Smith said, his voice awed. “You said that four moves ago.”

“It’s important to see things that haven’t happened yet,” Caboose said. “My sister taught me that.”

 “How do you do that?”

 “Oh, it’s something you have to learn.” Caboose moved his bishop. “But don’t worry, anyone can. Even Tucker did it.”

“Tucker plays chess with you?” Things were looking bad for Smith. He decided to move his queen.

“No.” Caboose moved his own queen and looked at Smith earnestly. “Tucker can see, though. He knew what Wyoming was doing before he did it. And Tucker? Well, he’s kind of stupid. So if he can do that, anyone can.”

Smith nodded sagely. He had no idea who Wyoming was. “So you’re saying if we plan the war the way you plan when you play chess, we can win. That’s good news, sir.”

“Yes.” Caboose knocked Smith’s king over. “Checkmate.”

“I don’t think that’s…” Smith paused. “Oh, of course. That’s how we can win the war, too. Strike them down when they’re not expecting it.”

Caboose didn’t acknowledge this remark, beginning to set up for another game.

“You’re very wise, sir.” Smith settled back more comfortably in his chair. He was ready to learn anything else he could learn about war from the chess strategies of his commander.


End file.
